The ardent faith of the Orthodox people in the miraculous icon dedicated to the Tikhvin Mother of God has appeared for a long time. The image was held in high esteem by the Russian people. The very first location of the icon was the Church of the Assumption of the Virgin, which burned during the fire three times, but the icon miraculously remained unharmed.
About the main thing
The second half of the 17th century was marked by the fact that Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich laid the first stone of the temple, but construction was completed after the death of the sovereign. The new temple in honor of the Tikhvin Icon of the Mother of God in Alekseevsky was consecrated by the Patriarch and the young ruler Fyodor Alekseevich. The temple was loved by the royal family, and therefore two small chapels were specially built for the royal couple in the church. During his reign, he did a lot for the holy monastery, allocated a lot of financial resourcesto help. After all, the tsar often visited the Church of the Tikhvin Icon of the Mother of God in Alekseevsky and knelt before the shrine. He was a very pious and church-going monarch.
A bit of history
The events that happened in the holy monastery throughout its existence are interesting. The Temple of the Tikhvin Icon of the Mother of God in Alekseevsky is located on the ancient Trinity Road, which leads to the Trinity-Sergius Lavra, which holds the relics of one of the most revered saints in Russia - Sergius of Radonezh. Once, during the Streltsy rebellion, Tsar Peter 1 stopped in this temple. Upon learning of this, a large detachment of archers arrived there, who, repenting and asking for mercy, fell on their knees before the king, bowing their heads. Peter 1 forgave and pardoned them all, although the rest of the archers were executed. In 1812, Napoleon's army captured Moscow, which desecrated many Russian shrines, the church in honor of the Tikhvin Icon of the Mother of God in Alekseevsky was no exception. The French army gradually turned the temple into a food warehouse, where they placed their provisions, and used the refectory as a stable. For a long time, everything was in disrepair, and only in 1824, Emperor Alexander 1 allocated about 20 thousand rubles from the treasury for the restoration of the temple. Then the bell tower was built. In 1836, an important event took place for the temple itself and for the entire church flock. For the first time the temple was painted by the talented artist D. Scotty. The entire temple complex in its architectural style is an example of church construction in the form of "Russian patterning".
Description of the Church of the Tikhvin Icon of the Mother of God inAlekseevsky
In the first half of the 19th century, the ceiling of the refectory room was dismantled, since then it has become a single-tier. From the second floor, only the choirs remained, which ran along the walls along the western, southern and northern parts of the building. On these choirs, ancient chandeliers, fenced with railings, have been preserved. At the expense of the merchant Konstantinov, in the corners of the refectory, under the choirs, side altars of St. Nicholas and St. Sergius were built. The architect Bykovsky, well-known at that time in Russia, put his soul and all his skill into the architectural style of the altars, the consecration of which took place in May 1848.
It is known that the pilgrimage to the Church of the Tikhvin Icon of the Mother of God in Alekseevsky was made on foot. Even members of the royal family for the duration of the journey refused all comforts in order to prepare for the great sacraments of confession and communion during this time.
Life during the revolution
In 1917, in the month of November, under the northern end of the temple, in symmetry with the Alekseevsky chapel, a chapel of the Great Martyr Tryphon was created. Believers now have the opportunity to bow to the saint and honor his memory.
And in 1922 the Church of the Resurrection of the Word was erected in the temple, which is located in the basement of the temple. In addition, the fence of the temple and the house of the parable were erected at the same time.
During the reign of godlessness in Russia and terrible repressions during the years of Soviet power, the Church of the Tikhvin Icon of the Mother of God in Alekseevsky was opened. Andeveryone who wanted to touch the great shrine could visit it, attend the divine service and bow to the miraculous icon. But this did not prevent the Soviet authorities in 1922 from seizing part of the premises from the temple for the location of a vegetable base there, and then using it for an art workshop. In addition, property belonging to the temple was confiscated. This is 114 kg of silver and 58 diamonds. The bells in the bell tower were not touched, but they did not ring for a very long time and did not please the ears of the parishioners. The trees around the church grew so large that it became almost invisible and disappeared from view. And only in 1998 all the premises were completely transferred back to the temple.
Miracles performed by the shrine
There is a legend of our days that in 1941, during the Hitler invasion, on the orders of Stalin, they flew around Moscow by plane, taking the great miraculous icon of the Tikhvin Mother of God. They did this to maintain the morale of the army and the people. Surprisingly, the offensive of the Soviet army soon ended successfully, and the city of Tikhvin, where the original icon was kept, was liberated from the Germans. Perhaps this is only a legend, but believers sincerely believe in it, because they know many other miraculous phenomena from the Tikhvin Icon of the Mother of God in Alekseevsky. The temple has now become famous and has become a haven of souls for many believers.
Post-war life
Temple of the Tikhvin Icon of the Mother of God in Alekseevskygot up hard from his knees. After the end of the Great Patriotic War, internal repairs were made, and already in the 70-90s of the 19th century, the restoration of the holy monastery took place. Then the beautiful wall paintings by the famous Italian painter D. Scotti, which were hidden under a large layer of records, were opened to the eyes of numerous parishioners.
In 1945, Father Vladimir Podobedov accepted the post of rector of the Tikhvin Church. Archpriest Alexander Vitalievich Solertovsky, well-known in Orthodox circles, has been the rector of the monastery since 1953. And in 1982, Archpriest Arkady Tyshchuk was appointed to this responsible position.
Wonderful tradition of the Tikhvin Church
The tradition that began in 1962 in this church is very interesting and important for all Orthodox parishioners. Every year on March 30, Patriarch Alexy II of Moscow and All Russia served the liturgy. It was dedicated to the memory of the patron Patriarch Alexy - the Man of God, in whose honor he was named during the rite of baptism. This solemn event was a great holiday for the entire parish and for all the believers who prepared in advance for this event.
Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia Alexy loved to be in the walls of the temple on the day of the Tikhvin Icon of the Most Holy Theotokos, to hold a service. This holiday takes place on July 9th. At this time, many believers come and widely celebrate the wonderful holiday.
In our time, the restored temple is reopened for everyone, which everyone can visit, andAny believer can honor the memory of the Great Martyr Sergius of Radonezh. On the official website of the holy monastery you can find the address, phone number, schedule of services. The Temple of the Tikhvin Icon of the Mother of God has become a place of pilgrimage for more than one thousand believers, and I would like to believe that this is not the limit.
